Vending machine with dual magazines arranged for alternate delivery



JAMES ARRANGED FOR ALTERNATE DELIVERY MWI-"m" June 1, 1954 Filed April 4, 1951 A TTORNEY IN V EN TOR.

FRAZER/V. JAMES June l, 1954 F E 2,680,051

N. JAM S VENDING MACHINE WITH DUAL MAGAZINES ARRANGED FOR ALTERNATE DELIVERY Filed April 4, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FRAZ/ER N JAMES INVENTOR.

June l, 1954 F N, JAMES 2,680,051

VENDING MACHINE WITH DUAL MAGAZINES ARRANGED FOR ALTERNATE DELIVERY Filed April 4, 1951 3 sheets-sheet 3 FRAZ/5R Af. JAMES INVENTOR.

Patented `lune 1., 19514 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VENDING MACHINE NITE-I DUAL MAGAZINES ARR'ANGED FOR ALTERNATE DELIVERY Frazier N. James, Dallas, Tex., assigner to Lone Star Vender` Corp., Dallas, Tex.

Application April 4, 1951, Serial NQ. 219,253

(Cl. :H2-48) mensions that it can be conveniently installed in i most locations. Since the beverages may grow stale with prolonged storage, it is necessary to vend the bottles or cans from the two tiers of racks in such a manner that no bottles or cans placed inthe machine at an earlier time are allowed to remain in the machine for prolonged periods of time while newer bottles or cans, placed in the machine at a later time or times, are vended. If one tier of. racks is emptied ben fore any bottles or cans are vended from a second tier of racks, the bottles. or cans may belrept in the second tier of racks for prolonged periods of time since it will be the natural inclination of the person loading the machinel merely toill in the empty racks of the rst tier instead of moving the old bottles or cans from the second tier of racks to the first tier and. then replacing the old bottles or cans in the second tiel` With new bottles or cans of beverage. Even if this is d one faithfully, the process of shifting the articles from one tier of racks to another is time. con-l suming. It is desirable therefore to providel a @Sl-lensing device which will alternately dispense an article from one tier and then from the other for vending by the machine.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved vending machine.

it is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved vending machine having a plurality of tiers oi racks from which tiers articles may be dispensed at equal rates.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a new and improved vending machine hav-f ing a plurality of tiers of racks from which articles are dispensed alternately.

It is still a further object of this inventionto provide a dispensing device yfor vending articles alternately from each of two racks mounted in a vending machine.

It is still. lanother object of the invention to provide a new and improved dispensing device driven by a single motor for vending articles alternately from each of two racks mounted in a vending machine.

` Briefly stated, the new. and improved vending machine comprises two tiers of racks mounted in a cabinet in side by side relationship. The racks are slanted downwardly toward a pair of vertical chutes, which is madeinto individual Chutes by a suitable partition so thaty articles placed on the racks will tend to roll clown into the chutes. A rotatable shaft is mounted beneath the chutes and is provided with two sets. of spaced curved radial arms which engage the articles in the two chutes and move them lfrom the chutes past an arcuate shielclor shroud andv to a slide` downr which the articles slide to the-outside of the ma: chine. @ne set of the arms engages the articles from one tier of racks and the other set of arms engages the articles from the other tier of racks. Theshroud is cut away at one end so that the articles engaged by one set of arms will he delivered to the slide at different positions of ro;` tation of the shaft than the articles engaged by the other set of arms. An electric motor is pro,- vided for rotating the shaft and its operation is controlled by a coin operated switch device by a pair of switches mounted adjacent the slide which are actuated by the articles from the tiers as they move down the slide. The motor is started by the deposit of a coin in the switching device and rotates until one article slides downl The the slide to actuate one ofv the switches. degree of rotation ofthe shaft is controlled by .the switches so that articles are delivered a1.,-

ternately from the two tiers until all the articles from one tier are delivered if for some reasonv less articles were stored in one tier than in the other. The shaft thereaiter rotates each time a coin is deposited to deliver an article to the slide from the other tier until all articles are delivered and the machine isemptied.

For a better understandingof the inw-mision,v

referenceY may be had to the following descrip-Y tion taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and its scope will be pointed out in the'Y appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front: plan View 0f the vending.

machine with itsdoor open and with some parts broken away;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ma chine taken along line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along linel Figure 6 is a perspective View or" another part of the machine.

Figure 'i is a diagrammatic illustration of the electrical control circuit of the machine,

Figure 8 is a detail View of the gate structure on a larger scale.

Referring now to the drawing, the vending machine comprises a cabinet I@ having insulated walls II, I2 and I3 and a door I4 which is secured to wall I3 by means oi the hinges i5. A shelf or horizontal partition I divides the cabinet into an upper chamber |'I and a lower chamber I8. A plurality of inclined plates I9 are mounted in the upper chamber Il to support the articles which are to be vended.

Each of the inclined plates I9 has upturned side anges 2B and 2|, a downwardly extending front end flange 22 and a downwardly extending rear end flange 23 which has a further downward extension 24. The plates I9 are mounted in spaced superposed relation in the upper chamber |'I by the screws 25 which fasten the side ilanges to the rear wall I2 of the cabinet and by the bolts 26 and 21 which fasten the side flanges 2| to the vertical channel 25 and the rear ilange 29 of a vertical partition 35, respectively. The top end of the channel 2S is seccured to a depending bracket Si of the cabinet by bolts 32 and its lower end is bolted to a support plate 33 by bolts or screws 3d. The upper end of the partition 3D is provided with a flange 35 which is fastened to the cabinet by means of screws 36. rI'he lower end of the partition 3Q is supported by a bar 3l whose upper end is secured to the front iiange 38 of the partition 35 by a screw 39 and whose lower end is secured by screws 4G to a bracket I mounted on the horizontal partition I5. It will be apparent now that the plates I5 are rigidly mounted in the upper chamberll and are capable to support such articles as the cans G2 indicated by broken lines 113.

The plates l5 are mounted with the flanges 23 proximate to the wall |3 of the cabinet and with their extensions 24 positioned at the front of the cabinet. A shelf 44 having upturned side anges 45 and 45 and end anges 4T and G8 is secured in the cabinet by means of screws 49 which secure its flanges to the vertical partition 3G, the rear wall l2 and the side wall I3. The shelf #i4 is positioned at a slightly lower level than the lowest plate I9 and forms the bottom of a precooler storage space or chamber 5E in which cans 43 of beverage may be stored.

Each of the plates I9 is divided into two racks 5| and 52 by a channel member 53 which is secured to its associated plate I9 by screw or any other conventional manner. The back of each rack 52 is closed by the downward extension 2t of the plate I5 which lies immediately above it. The back of each rack 5I, which lies adjacent the rear wall I2 of the cabinet, is open so that the cans can be loaded on each rack 5| through its back from the storage chamber 5G.

The lowest end of each rack 52 is partly closed by a gate 56 which is pivotally secured to the channel 28 by a hinge 51. Each gate 56 has a plate 55 provided with a iiange 59 which extends into its associated rack 52 when the gate is in closed position. An overlap plate 60 is secured to each plate 58 and has a downwardly extending portion which overlaps the plate 5S of its adjacent lower gate 5E. Each overlap plate 55 has a stiifening ange 5|. It will now be apparent that the gate 56 can open only if the gate positioned immediately above it is open. The function of the gate 5S will be described below.

Each of the racks 5| is also provided with a gate 62, similar to the gates 55 of the racks 52. The hinges 63 of the gates 52 are secured to the front flanges 22 of the plates I9 by screws or in any other conventional manner. The gates 62. when in closed positions, and wall of the cabinet form a vertical chute 5ft which receives the cans which roll oli the racks 5| during the vending operation of the machine. The gates 55 and the wall il form a similar vertical chute which receives the cans which roll oi the racks 52 during the vending operation. In order to separate the vertical chutes Sii and 55 so that the cans in one chute will not interi-ere with the movement of the cans in the other chute, a sliding partition 65 is positioned between each channel member 5S and an angle member 56a rigidly secured to the channel member by pins B'I. The upward sliding movement of each sliding partition 65 is limited by one pin B'I while its downward movement is stopped by the wall II of the cabinet. A pair of spaced vertical strips 5S and 65 are secured to the wall to receive the sliding partitions 55 therebetween when they are in their lowermost positions and prevent lateral movement thereof. Each sliding partition '35 is provided with/a iinger hole It so that it may be easily manipulated. The front open side of the chute t55 is closed by an elongated door 'II which is mounted on the wall Il by means of hinges 12. The door 'II has a vertical groove 'i3 into which the stiiiening flanges 5| may extend when the gates 55 are opened.

The chutes 64 and 55 are each provided with a pair of vertical spacing members le and l5, respectively, which are secured to the wall II in any conventional manner and which serve to keep the cans in properly aligned positions while in the vertical chutes.

The manner in which the cans 33 are loaded into the racks and chutes will now be described.v

Assuming now that all the cans in the racks 5| and 52 and the vertical chutes 64 and 55 have been vended, the elongated door 'II is opened and the gates 56 are swung to closed position. The sliding partitions 65 are then slid back until their movement is stopped by the pins 5l. The gates 62 are then closed. Pre-cooled cans 43 are now taken from the storage chamber 55 and placed in vertical chute Es. As the cans are piled higher, the sliding partitions are moved downwardly into their extended positions. The chute 65 may then be lled with cans from the storage chamber 55. It will be noted that the gates 56 and 52 will be maintained in closed po sition by the cans in the vertical chutes. When both chutes are lled, the door 'II is closed. Door "ii may be provided with any conventional latch or lock to maintain it in closed position; The front racks 52 are now lled with cans 43 by slipping them between the side iiange 2| of one plate I9 and the bottom of the next plate I8. It will be noted that the downward extensions 24 of the plates I5 prevent loading of the front racks 52 from the ends proximate to the cooler chamber 50. rihe rear racks 5| are then loaded through their ends which open on storage chamber 55. If the number of pre-cooled cans @3 is insumcient to ll all racks 5I and 52, the upper racks are filled rst, and the warm cans are loaded on the lower racks since the cans on the lower racks are vended only after the cans in the upper racks have been vended.

After all the racks have been loaded, the storage chamber 59 isre-loaded. It isnecessary to stack thecans which are at the end of the racks 5| in suchl a fashion as to prevent the cans in the storage chambers from entering into. any of the racks 5I. as these are emptied during vending operations of the machine. A smallshelf or abutment 'ic is disposed immediately adjacent the loading ends of the racks 5| so that the rst can placed on shelf 49 willnecessarily abut the wall I3 of the cabinet. The next can will then abutv the lower can and the flange 23 of the nearest plate I9.. This arrangement of the cans relative to. the plates I9 is repeated until the portion of the storage chamber 59 at the end of racks 5I is lled with cans. The cans in the storage chamber 59 can never, therefore, enter racks 5I unless placed there by hand. This prevents the vending of warm cans from the storage chamber.

The shelf 'I6 may be formed from the same piece of sheet metal as the shelf 44. A similar shelf or abutment is not necessary immediately adjacent the ends of the racks 452 since the downward extension 24 of each plate I9 closed off the. end of the rack 52 which is positioned immediately beneath it.

The cans in the vertical chutes. 69 and 65 are dispensed alternately from each chute by a dispensing device 'I'I which comprises a horizontal shaft TS which extends beneath both chutesv and has one end journaled in a bearing block 'I9 mounted on the wall I2 by means of screws 89. The. shaft 'I9 is also journaled in a motor mount plate 8| which is secured to the support plate 33 in any conventional manner. The motor mount plate 8| has a horizontal extension t2 on which is yieldably supported a motor stand 93. The motor stand 93 is yieldably supported by a pair of springs 84 and 95 which are disposed about a. pair of vertical pins 36 and 8l, respectively, and supports a motor 89 which is connected to shaft 19 in any conventional manner.

Two pairs of armed members 99 and 99 are rigidly secured to shaft 'IB and disposed beneath chutes S4 and 95, respectively. Each member 99 is provided with. three curved arms 9| and each member 99 is provided with an equal number of similar arms 92. rThe members 39 and 99 are so disposed on shaft 'I9 that the arms 9| and 92 are aligned. A shield or shroud 93 havingr end flanges 94 and 95 which are secured to the support plate 33 and the wall I I by screws or other conventional means is mounted adjacenty the curved members 89 and 99. The shroud is curved to t quite closely to the arms 9| and 92 as they revolve past the shroud.

A lower portion of the end of the shroud 93 Which lies beneath the racks 5| and which is adjacent the arms 9| of members 89 is cut away, as at 96, for a purpose to be described below. A pair of aligned arms @I of the members 89 engages the lowermost can in chute 64 and carries it in ar clock-wise direction, Figure 3, as the shaft 'I9 is revolved by the motor 88. The shroud 93 will prevent the can from falling out from the arms 9|' until it is carried past the shroud to the cut away'portion 99. The can will then drop by gravity onto a slide 91 to slide into a tray 98 provided in an opening 99oJ in the door I4. At` the same time, a pair of aligned arms 92 of the members. 99 engage the lowermost can in chute 95 and carry it also in a clockwise direction, Figure 4, as the shaft 'I8 is revolved. Since the arms 92 revolve past the wide portion of the shroudthecancarried. by the arms 92' will still be.:

heldv between thearms l92 and the shroud 9?' when the ca nA carried by the aligned pair of arms,l The shaftV 65, respectively, as the shaft 'I8 is revolved but.- that, due to` the out away portion 96 of shroud. 93, the can carried by the pair of arms 9| will;

be allowed to. drop to the slide 9'! before the can carried by the arms 92 is allowed to drop to the. slide 98 as the shaft 'I8 is allowed to continue tcv revolve. Cans will therefore be dispensed alternately from the chutes 64 and 65 and dropped on the chutes 91 and 98, respectively, as the shaft 'i8 is revolved.

A pair of normally closed switches 99 and |99 are secured to the slides 9'I and 98, respectively, and are opened each time a can slides down slides 9'I and 98, respectively, to stop the motorl 88. The,

motor 89 is started each time by a switch I9I, in a conventional coin operated switching device |02, is closed by the deposit of a coin. The switch |9| connects both the motor 99 and a relay coil |9201 across a supply circuit iBa. rlhe relay coil I92a closes the contact |93 and keeps the motor connected to the supply circuit even after the switch I 9| opens as the coin which originally closed the switch I9I drops into the collection box of the device |92. Contact |93 will be maintained in its closed position until either the switch 99 or the switch E99 is opened by a can sliding down the slide 9'! or 99 as the case may be. When one of the switches 99 or |99 is opened, the relay coil |92a is cle-energized and the Contact |93 moves to open position. Simultaneously, the motor 8S stops. The motor can now be started only if another coin is deposited in the device- |92 to close the switch I9I and repeat the above cycle of operation. The coin operated device |92 is installed in the door I9 as is conventional in the art.

The slides 9'I and 99 are secured to the horizontal partition I6 by means of brackets |99 and |95. Slide 9i is also fastened to the wall IZby a bracket |99. The slides 97 and 99 are provided with central ribs I9'i and |99, respectively, to stiffen the slides and also to minimize the areas of contact of the cans with the slides in order to decrease the sliding friction therebetween.

The gates 59 and 92 provided for each rack 5I and 52, respectively, are employed to prevent the cans in lower raclrs from interfering with the downward movement of the cans in the vertical chutes 65 and 99, respectively, by also moving into the chutes. It will be noted that gate 59 or 62 will swing open only when the cans in its chute fall below the level of the lower edge of its.

overlap plate 99.

The chamber I'I of the cabinet I9 is cooled in a conventional mannerby a refrigerating system having cooling coils |99 disposed in the chamberv I'I and a fan I I9 for circulating air past the cooling coils and up through the racks. The plates I9 are provided with holes IH to obtain a thor-v ough circulation of air past the cans in the racks. The fan is driven by a motor I I2 mounted on the tubular housing II3 of the fan. IThe housing is rigidly clamped to the wall I2 of the cabinet by a strap vI Ifl which is secured to thewalll I2; by screws II5.

The cooling coils IUS are part of a conventional refrigerating system driven by a compressor unit IIB in the lower chamber I8 and having condenser coils II'I which are cooled by air driven by a fan I I8 powered by a motor I I9. The sides of the lower chamber are made of grill work to allow easy passage of air therethrough.

A pair of cut-off switches 120 and I2I mounted on the shroud 93 are actuated by the cans carried by the set of arms 9| and 92. When the machine is empty, these switches actuate a circuit which prevents the operation of the motor and rejects coins deposited in the device m2. They may also be employed to cause lamps to light to give a visual indication that the machine is empty.

It will be apparent now that a vending machine has been illustrated which has two tiers of racks I and 52 in which articles, such as the cans 43, may be placed to be dispensed alternately from each tier cf racks through the opening 99 in the door I4. Moreover, a dispensing device has been disclosed in which one motor driving asingle shaft'will dispense articles alternately from the two tiers.

Various changes and modications may be made in the illustrated embodiment without departing from the invention. For example, a single slide may be employed if the shroud 93 is not cut away at Se and if the arms of the members 89 are not aligned with the members 90, The arms of each pair of the members 88 and 90 will be aligned with respect to each other. in this oase, the cans will be dropped onto the same slidealternately from one chute 64 or B5 and then from the other chute 65 or 64. The switches 9S and iil would then be so positioned on the single slide that the motor 88 would be stopped each time a can was dropped on the single slide.

Various other changes and modifications may be made in the disclosed embodiment of the invention without departing from the invention and it is intended, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving oi the lower ends of the racks under the iniluence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; means co-acting with one set oi armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of said one set of armed members until the shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a first predetermined angular position; and means cO-acting with the other set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of the other set o1 armed members until said shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a second predetermined angular position, the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms of said one set of armed members are moved to the rst predetermined position and the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to the second predetermined position.

2. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a -vertical chute for receiving articles moving on the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a. rotatable shaft extending below the chute;

r disposed beneath each of said columns of articles,

each o the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms on one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; means co-acting with one set ci armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of said one set of armed members until the shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a first predetermined angular position; means co-acting with the other set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of the other set of armed members until said shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a second predetermined angular position, the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members being dispensed when aligned arms of one set of armed members are moved to the rst predetermined position and the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members being dispensed when aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to the second predetermined position; and slide means positioned below each set of armed members to receive the dispensed articles and deliver them to a common point.

3. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving oli" the lower ends of the racks under the iniiuence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft; one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each or" the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms cf one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; means co-acting with one set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of said one set of armed members until the shaft is rotated to positionan aligned pair of arms in a first predetermined angular position; means co-acting with Vthe other` set of armed members to retain an ,article in engagement with aligned arms of the Aone set of armed members being dispensed when `the aligned arms of said one set of armed members are moved to the first predetermined posi- -tion and the articles engaged and carried by Aaligned armsof the other set'of armed members `being dispensed when the aligned arms of said `other set of armed members are moved to the second predetermined position; slide means positioned below each set of armed members to re- `-ceive the dispensed articlesand deliver them to .a common point; a motor for rotating said shaft; means for starting the motor; and switch means disposed in the path of travel of the dispensed articles for stopping the motor each time an article is dispensed by a set of the armed members.

4. `In a dispensing, apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a Vertical chute for receiving articles moving off the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; means co-acting with one set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of said one set of armed members until the shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a first predetermined angular position; means co-acting with the `other set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of the `other set of armed members until said shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a .second predetermined angular position, the ar- ,ticles engaged and carried by aligned arms of .oneset of armed members being dispensed when `theraligned arms of said one set of armed inem- Ibers are moved to the iirst predetermined position and the articles engaged and .carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to the second predetermined position; a motor for rotating said shaft; means for starting the motor; and switch means disposed in the path of travel of the dispensed articles for stopping the motor each time an article is dispensed by a set Y Vof armed members.

5. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article-supporting, inclined racks disposed in side .by side relation; means providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving off the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said 10 articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest .article in one column and aligned arms ofthe other set of armedmembers engaging the lowest article in the other column; and a rigid elongated arcuate member disposed parallel to said shaft and adjacent said arms and co-acting with the sets of armed members to retain articles in engagement with said arms as said shaft is rotated, said arcuate member having a wide portion adjacent one set of armed members and a narrow portion adjacent the other set of armed members whereby articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members are dispensed when the aligned arms of one set of armed members are moved tc a first predeterminedposition by the rotation of said shaft and articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members are dispensed when aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved 'to a second predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft.

6. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means for providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving off the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute,.one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets Yof armed membersrigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed ,members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column `and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; a rigid elongated arcuate member disposed parallel to said shaft and adjacent said arms and co-acting with the sets of armed members to retain articles in engagement with said arms as said shaft is rotated, said arcuate member having a wide portion adjacent one set of armed members and a narrow portion adjacent `the other set of armed members whereby articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members are dispensed when the aligned arms of one set of armed members are moved to a first predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft and articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members are dispensed when aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to a second predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft; and slide means positioned below the'lowermost edgesof the narrow and wide portions of the arcuate member to receive the dispensed articles and deliver them to `a common point.

'7. In a disparisingv apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, .inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means for providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving oi the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disn posed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; a rigid elongated arcuate member disposed parallel to said shaft and adjacent said arms and co-acting with the sets of armed members to retain articles in engagement with said arms as said shaft is rotated, said arcuate member having a Wide portion adjacent one set of armed members and a narrow portion adjacent the other set of armed members whereby articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members are dispensed when the aligned arms of one set of armed members are moved to a rst predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft and articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members are dispensed when aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to a second predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft; slide means positioned below the lowermost edges of the narrow and wide portions of the arcuate member to receive the dispensed articles and deliver them to a common point; a motor for rotating said shaft; means for starting the motor; and switch means disposed in the path of travel of the dispensed articles for stopping the motor each time an article is dispensed by a set of the armed members.

8. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article suporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means for providing va vertical chute for receiving articles moving off the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of .armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column; a rigid elongated arcuate member disposed parallel to said shaft and adjacent said arms .and co-acting with the sets of armed members to retain articles in engagement with said arms as said shaft is rotated, said arcuate member having a wide portion adjacent one set of armed members and a narrow portion adjacent the other set of armed members whereby articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members are dispensed when the aligned arms of one set of armed members are moved to a first predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft and. articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members are dispensed when aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to a second predetermined position by the rotation of said shaft; a motor for rotating said shaft; means for starting the motor; and switch means disposed in the path of travel of the dispensed articles for stopping the motor each time an article is dispensed by a set of armed members.

9. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving off the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute; a first means rigidly secured to said shaft and disposed below one of said columns for engaging the lowermost article in said one of said columns; a second means rigidly secured to said shaft and disposed below the other of said columns for en gaging the lowermost article in the other of said columns, the first and second means dispensing articles alternately from the two columns of articles as said shaft is rotated; a third means co-acting with said first means to retain an article in engagement with said rst means until the shaft is rotated to position an article engaged by said rst means in a predetermined angular position with respect to the shaft; and a fourth means co-acting with said second means to retain an article in engagement with said second means until the shaft is rotated to position an article engaged by said second means in a second predetermined angular position with respect to the shaft, the articles engaged and carried by said rst means being dispensed when they are moved to said rst predetermined position by rotation of said shaft and the articles engaged and carried by said second means being dispensed when they are moved to said second predetermined position by rotation of said shaft.

10. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving oi the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns in said vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute, two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having a plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column, means co-acting with one set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of said one set of armed members until the shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a first predetermined angular position; means co-acting with the other set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of the other set of armed members until said shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in 4a. second predetermined angular position, the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms of said one set of armed-members are moved to the rst predetermined position and the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms iof said otherset of armed members are moved to the second predetermined position; slide means positioned below said rst and second means to receive `the dispensed articles and deliver them to a common point; a motor for rotating said shaft; means for starting the motor; and switch means disposed in the path of travel of dispensed articles for stopping the motor each time an article is dispensed.

1l. In a dispensing apparatus, two tiers of article supporting, inclined racks disposed in side by side relation; means providing a vertical chute for receiving articles moving off the lower ends of the racks under the influence of gravity, said articles being stacked in two columns infs'aid vertical chute, one column being fed with articles by the racks of one tier and the other column being fed with articles by the racks of the other tier; a rotatable shaft extending below the chute, two sets of armed members rigidly secured to said shaft, one set of said armed members being disposed beneath each of said columns of articles, each of the armed members having aY plurality of arms, the arms of the armed members being aligned on the shaft, aligned arms of one set of armed members engaging the lowest article in one column and aligned arms of the other set of armed members engaging the lowest article in the other column, means co-acting with one set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of said one set of armed 14 f members until the shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a first predetermined angular position; means co-acting with the other set of armed members to retain an article in engagement with aligned arms of the other set of armed members until said shaft is rotated to position an aligned pair of arms in a second predetermined angular position, the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of one set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms of said one set of armed members are moved to the rst predetermined position and the articles engaged and carried by aligned arms of the other set of armed members being dispensed when the aligned arms of said other set of armed members are moved to the second predetermined position; a motor for rotating said shaft; means for starting the motor; and switch means disposed in the path of travel of dispensed articles for stopping the motor each time an article is dispensed.

12. In the device of claim 1, partition means disposable between the two columns to `prevent the articles in one column from contacting the articles in the other column.

13. In the device of claim 11, partition means disposable between the two columns to prevent the articles in one column from contacting the articles in the other column.

References Cit-ed in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 957,720 Starr May 10, 1910 2,002,753 Parks et al May 28, 1935 2,315,515 Gibson et a1 Apr. 6, 1943 2,405,891 Larimore Aug. 13, 1946 

